By Gregg Ellman
@greggellman

The olloclip photo lens is now available for the iPhone 5, bringing photography to new levels for iPhoneographers.

A pair of durable lenses give you a fish eye, wide angle and a macro view. Each lens is built on a clip, which fits right on the phone to cover the built-in lens.

To get from one lens to the other, just take the clip off and flip it around; you unscrew the front element of the wide-angle lens to get the macro lens.

The fish eye provides about a 180-degree field-of-view; the macro gives you a focal distance of half an inch and the wide angle expands the viewing angle by 2X.

Since the lens is designed to work on a phone without a case or screen protector, olloclip has launched a new Quick-Flip case.

The case is designed so the corner, which covers the lens, swings open without the need to remove the case. This gives you instant access to attach the lens, and the open corner can now act as a shutter release.

It also has a threaded connection on the case for tripods or other accessories to use in landscape or portrait modes.

The kit includes lens caps and a lens bag, which doubles as a cleaning cloth.

The quality from the lenses is excellent, although they will never replace a digital SLR or even a point and shoot camera.

But having the access to your phone is what makes camera phones so popular and the ollclip is a great pocket-sized attachment.

www.olloclip.com  olloclip kit for the iPhone 5 – $69.99, quick-flip case $49.99 or get both for $99.99

 

The latest tablet from COBY (MID8065) has 8-inch screen and will do all the basics people want from a tablet without taking a big bite out of your wallet.

There isn’t a lot on the setup; the main part is setting up your Wifi (b/g/n). Then set up your email, surf the web or watch YouTube video’s.

It’s built with dual core 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM along with AndroidTM 4.0.

You get 8GB of internal storage but unlike some other leading tablets, it has a microSD card reader. This lets you expand the storage to whatever you want it to be with your own memory cards up to 32GB each.

There’s also 5GB of cloud storage, a built-in microphone, Bluetooth, headphone jack, internal speaker and a high speed HDMI port.

The home screen has all the basics including flash memory and access to the Google Play Store with an app on the home screen.

If your looking for low cost tablet to do all the basics, this can be a great choice. The touchscreen is responsive and switches between landscape or portrait instantly.

I used the tablet for all the basics; email, web surfing and YouTube with ease. An internal Rechargeable Li-Poly recharges with the included USB cable.

www.CobyUSA.com  $157

 

ZAGG was right out of the block with available accessories for the new Samsung Galaxy S4.

They include the invisible shield to make your device’s touchscreen scratch resistant while maintaining full functionality.

Cases include a versatile lineup from the Zagg iFrogz lineup that are both durable and attractive. If I had to pick my favorite, it would be the the Breeze cover ($24.99) with its form-fitting design and gray/black mesh design.

Other accessories include the ZAGGsparq ($99.99), a portable power supply with a 6000mAh battery.

A pair of USB ports lets you charge two devices at once and a built-in retractable AC power connection eliminates the need for a separate charging cable.

www.zagg.com
www.myblueant.com  $99

Contact Gregg Ellman at greggellman@mac.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @greggellman.
2013, Gregg Ellman.